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UNITED NATIONS – The European Union said Monday night that it would establish a special payment channel allowing European and other companies to legally pursue their financial transactions with Iran while avoiding exposure to US sanctions.
This decision is a direct reprimand of President Trump's policy towards Iran and his decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal in May and opens the way for a confrontation between the United States and Europe. in the coming days. the big themes.
Federica Mogherini, head of European diplomacy, and Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, jointly announced a "special vehicle" in English and Farsi after a United Nations meeting at the UN. France, Germany, Russia and China.
"We do not back down [on the Iran nuclear agreement]"Said a European diplomat. He said European leaders' speeches at a Security Council meeting that Trump was holding on Wednesday on non-proliferation, including Iran, will reflect Monday's statement.
The statement said that the participants in the 2015 nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Global Action Plan, "underscored their determination to protect the freedom of their economic operators to pursue legitimate business with Iran" .
The mechanism – details of which would be put in place at future meetings with technical experts – would facilitate payments related to Iran's trade, exports and imports of oil and "reassure economic operators who are pursuing legitimate business with Iran" , says the release.
European companies have freed themselves from the Iranian market and put an end to contracts to avoid the risk of US sanctions. Iran argued that the 2015 agreement allowed the Islamic Republic to benefit from the lifting of sanctions and to enter the world market.
However, the Iranian economy has stumbled, the currency falling almost daily against the US dollar since the US left the market.
It remains to be seen whether European companies will change course even with additional help from their governments to avoid US sanctions.
But the optics of the European Union's action, as well as China and Russia to challenge the United States, have shown that the Trump administration is still criticized for its decisions on Iran.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is attending the General Assembly this week to promote US foreign policy successes, including the exit of the Iranian nuclear deal and the encouragement of cooperation with Korea. North.
Mogherini said Iran remains fully committed to its obligations under the nuclear deal, as attested by a dozen reports from the US nuclear watchdog, the International Energy Agency. atomic.
She also welcomed the 2015 agreement as a major achievement for diplomacy and non-proliferation and "deeply regrets" what she called the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the agreement.
The statement also said that the parties to the agreement would continue to help Iran modernize the country's Arak research reactor and convert the Fordow facility, a former enrichment plant, into a nuclear, physical and nuclear center. and technological.
Write to Farnaz Fassihi at [email protected]
